Total Drama: Invasion
by GlitchWarrior
Summary: When a race of alien machines known as the Xoro attack Earth, a small resistance made up of everybody's favorite teenagers will try to end what they started. Little do they know, these aliens can transform other people into more Xoro! Will the newly born Resistance save the world, or become the force that's conquering it? (Includes romance and, more importantly, transformations.)
1. File 1: Courtney

**Note to the Readers: Each chapter will be told from the titular character's point of view. Also, this story will be very different from what I have already written. Read at your own risk.**

* * *

 **FILE 1: COURTNEY**

Have you ever had a really rough day? Y'know, like so rough, you wonder if you're even still alive?

I was asking that question myself, especially after being torn away from a million bucks AGAIN. But I didn't know that my day was about to get a lot rougher.

I shook my head. Why was I even still putting up with stupid Chris and his stupid show with his stupid islands and stupid eliminations? It really confused me. A lot. I decided to open my closet, and change into some nice sleepwear.

 **SUBJECT CHANGES. IMAGE REMOVED FOR CONVENIENCE.**

Now, I don't know why I hadn't gone to bed yet. I had so much time, but used none of it. What was I dwelling on? Duncan? Scott? Or someone else I hadn't remembered yet? I dunno.

I sat down in front of the sink and began to think about the events that got me here. The details were... blurry, to say the least. I thought about why I had turned out so bad, when all I'd wanted to do was help. Then, I heard a voice.

 **SO, AID IS WHAT YOU SEEK TO PERFORM.**

The voice sounded mechanical, almost robotic, but with enough personality that it still sounded humanoid. I froze. I didn't expect any of this.

"Wh...Who's there?" I asked.

 **WHAT YOU TRULY WANT IS TO BE A LEADER. WE WILL GRANT THAT WISH.**

"You still didn't answer my question!" I yelled, shakily.

 **INITIATING SCAN OF SUBJECT.**

Suddenly, a weird, metallic antenna poked itself out of the drain. It bathed the room in a greenish light, frightening me once again. I had no clue what was going on, but I wished I had.

 **SUBJECT SCAN COMPLETE. COMMENCING ANALYSIS.**

I started to panic. All I had gone into the bathroom to do was to check my hair, or wash my hands, or something. I didn't know anymore. I also didn't know who was speaking, although the owner of the antenna was more than likely that person.

"Who ARE you?" I asked again. I didn't get a clear answer, but what I did get chilled me.

 **SUBJECT DECIDED TO BE INEFFICIENT. MANUAL UPDATE REQUIRED.**

Manual update. Now that's a phrase that really freaked me out. I didn't know what had happened, but it wasn't good.

 **COMMENCING UPDATE 1. JUDGING UNIT'S CAPABILITY.**

I stepped back, but suddenly, a strange metallic particle shot at me. It threw itself into my arm, and then, to horrify me even more, dug itself in.

I was suddenly paralyzed by a wave of energy, pulsing through my body. I couldn't move at all.

 **VARIOUS ISSUES DETECTED WITH SUBJECT'S INTERNAL SYSTEMS:**

 **COMBAT RATING: 2/10. MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT REQUIRED.**

 **MOBILITY: 4/10. ADDITIONAL MOVEMENT CAPABILITY RECCOMENDED.**

 **DURABILITY: 1/20. NO PLATING ON SUBJECT.**

 **WEAPON SYSTEMS: ABSENT. NEED ATTATCHMENT.**

 **POWER SOURCE: PRIMITIVE, BIOLOGICAL PUMP. REPLACEMENT NECESSARY.**

 **PROCESSING UNIT: BIOLOGICAL BRAIN. INEFFICIENT.**

 **UPDATES REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY.**

Every word of the analysis made me shake in fear. By now, I'd realized that the speaker was inhuman; in fact, mechanical, as I'd assumed before. But what it was saying chilled me the most.

 **NANOBYTES REPLICATING.**

Oh, just great. That thing that had buried itself into my arm was some sort of nanobyte. I felt it moving around, like a parasite that was hunting a fresh meal. It suddenly began to feel heavier when it reached my upper arm, and I realized too late: the thing was duplicating itself, using my body tissue as fuel.

 **COMMENCING UPDATE 2. SUBJECT'S COMBATIVE ABILITIES WILL NOW BE ENHANCED.**

The skin on my right arm started to turn shiny and silver, as if made of a metallic alloy. I didn't know what to expect next, but it continued to spread through my arm, eventually reaching my hand. Then, suddenly, sharp, iron claws shot out of my fingertips. I was mortified, but it seemed totally painless.

My skin seemed to rise out of the arm, creating a protective shell around it. I was both freaked... and also very excited. This was kind of fun... and I HATED it. I wanted it to stop. But then the bytes spread to my OTHER arm, and began the same work.

Things changed when they got to my lower left arm. My hand began to slowly disintegrate, in a very frightening sort of way, but also a cool sort of way. Then, when all that was left of my wrist was an open hole, a laser reticule deployed onto it. I realized that my left arm had become a sort of cannon. Cool. But also not cool.

Then, the bytes swarmed to my legs.

 **COMMENCING UPDATE 3. ENHANCING SUBJECT'S MOBILE CAPABILITIES.**

My legs began to shrink back into my body, but that's when things got REALLY weird. A long, slender, almost stick-like appendage burst out of the front-right of my leggings. Then, four more shot out, creating a sort of quintaped balance, the likes of which I'd never observed. I felt like a weird sort of battle spider, but I was then lifted into the air. My legs were unfrozen, which let me kick around, figure out how to walk on them, and generally flail these weird segmented abominations.

I supposed, with more legs, and with those legs being smaller and more insectoid, I'd be able to move around any sort of terrain easily. Further, each foot ended in a shoe-like structure that doubled as a thruster, enabling flight. I'd hoped it would be over, but then...

 **COMMENCING UPDATE 4. HOST UNIT CENTRAL SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE WILL BE MODIFIED.**

The bytes swarmed to my chest. I wanted to clutch at my heart- it felt like it was slowing down- but my arms were still frozen, despite being perfect in design. Wait, had I actually thought that? My mind was racing for answers, but all I could think of was how good this felt, how much better I would be after the transformation.

My heart stopped. But I didn't die. It'd been replaced by a far more efficient molecular fusion reactor, one that continually renewed the used power. My lungs were now a ventilation system, complete with maximum-efficiency cooling. My stomach became a nano-assimilator, able to absorb approximately 99 percent of matter in my system. Waste treatment would no longer be necessary, as I would produce little of it. My chest was coated with an impenetrable armor. I'd have liked to see Duncan blow THAT up.

 **COMMENCING UPDATE 5. HEAD STRUCTURE WILL NOW BE IMPROVED.**

I closed my eyes. I felt my voicebox fall to pieces from inside my throat as the nanites went to my head, replaced by an electronic vocabulator. My ears gradually diminished; far more efficient audio sensors became their replacement. My nose was plated, but became merely a decorative feature; scent receptors lined my freshly-metalized nostrils. My mouth was barely changed, but the inside of it became a grinding machine as my facial plating fused.

I opened my eyes again- but, they weren't quite eyes. They were spectral photoreceptors, able to capture roughly 2000 frames per second and process them in an instant. My hair became a bundle of wires, unattatched to my brain but still primarily asthetic.

 **COMMENCING FINAL UPDATE. SUBJECT'S PROCESSING UNIT WILL RECIEVE UPGRADES.**

Within seconds, my mind was subdued. I felt my last shreds of humanity become a mere footnote in my newly-programmed databanks. I heard my own screams inside of my head, but ignored them. My brain became a rather advanced AI unit, capable of processing any advanced calculation in the blink of an eye. It analyzed every moment. It calculated all odds. I was perfect.

I was perfect, and I knew it. THEY knew it. The beings who had given me my updates deserved to be repaid in full. They required someone who could find any problem, and solve it.

 **UPDATE COMPLETED. PROGRAMMING SUCCESSFUL. DOWNLOADING PROTOCOL.**

My mind was flooded with information, and I didn't take my time to analyze it all. I didn't have to. My mission was to expand. I was to lead the armies of my creators and subdue Earth. I was to be the conqueror of the planet, the one that made people quake in fear.

I was to be the one called Kyora Prime.

And I... was a Xoro.

* * *

 **So, the first Xoro attack/transformation comes to a close, with the birth of a mighty warrior named Kyora Prime. But how will the other characters take it? And is there anything left of Courtney to salvage? Follow to find out!**

 **(PS: Next up is File 2: Cody.)**


	2. File 2: Cody

**The second file of Invasion is up! In this episode, Cody gets swamped by Sierra AND tasked with saving the world. Yeah, I'll let the chapter explain it for me...**

* * *

 **FILE 2: CODY**

After a long day at school, I had wanted to kick back at home and relax. But NO. There always has to be a catch. When I flopped down on my couch, I heard a little giggle. I'm pretty sure I knew where it came from, too. So I looked behind the couch... and then she jumped me.

"CODY!"

Sierra, who I didn't even know was inside my house, leaped open-arms at me, scaring me half to death! I tried to get her off, but eventually resigned to her grip.

"How did you even get in here?" I asked.

"Oh, it's easy." Sierra put her hand to my chin. "I just told your mom that I was one of your best friends, and she let me in! Isn't that awesome, Cody?"

"No, it's NOT awesome!" I screamed. Or, at least I tried to. Right before I said the word "not," Sierra looked me in the face, and started bouncing up and down. "This is gonna be fun! I'm finally together with Cody since after Season Three! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

"Yeah, sure," I said hurriedly. "Now, can we please just forget this whole scene happened?"

So, for a large part of our afternoon, it was the two of us watching TV. Although, Sierra tried to push me towards watching romantic comedies. I can see why; she was trying to influence me.

When Sierra finally got up, I was just happy to see that she was smiling. She said she'd make us some popcorn, and left to do just that. But while she was in the kitchen, a knock came at the door. A very loud, and very heavy, knock.

I went to the hall, and opened the door... to see a tall,muscular black man with a uni-brow staring me in the face. This man was Chef Hatchet, and he worked for Chris McLean, AKA the most clinically evil person on the planet. Chef stared me in the eyes, and I almost felt like I'd pass out from his gaze.

"Cody, I got the po-OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Sierra screamed when she walked over and saw Chef. Nobody wanted to see any aspect of Total Drama whilst not ON Total Drama. But here was Chef anyway.

"We need to talk," he said, and without another word, he grabbed me and Sierra and dragged us to his van.

* * *

"So..." I asked during the car ride, "why are we being kidnapped by you again?"

Chef sighed. "You'll understand once Chris explains. He's better at it than me."

Sierra crossed her arms. "Is he making another season of Total Drama? Is that why he wanted us?"

"No. And I already said that we're not talking about it."

* * *

When the van stopped, we were outside of a long building. "This is the place," muttered Chef to himself. "Now, where's Chris..."

Suddenly, we were all notified of where he was by his casually annoying tone; "Yo, Chef? Got the goods?"

Chef turned around, and Chris was standing right behind him. Sierra gasped, while I screamed.

"So you did," came Chris' reply. "Good. Now, let's get going. I have a huge problem to announce..."

"You went bankrupt and now Total Drama is cancelled?" I asked hopefully.

"No. And that's a huge problem that I wouldn't ask your opinion on. No, this problem is something I'll need your help with."

Chris took us through the door. We saw a long conference room, filled with people we knew all to well. Although, it seemed like a few people were definitely missing; Duncan was still in prison, and so was Scarlett. Max was probably out being evil, and Brick was probably on tour of duty. The only real surprise was Courtney's absence. It looked like Cameron's bubble had a few holes in it, probably from Eva, and Sam was walking in a freshly-un-mutated Dakota, who was still a bit taller and stronger than even Jasmine.

Sierra and I took our seats, and Chris stood at the head of the table. He cleared his throat, and stared at all of us coldly.

"Guys. I _was_ going to call you all here to draft another season, but something's come up that keeps that from happening. We've just recieved word of an alien invasion striking Earth-"

At that, the crowd began chattering. Was this real? Was it a hoax? Was Chris getting old and loony? These were the questions that encircled the conference room.

"SHUT UP!" Chris yelled. "I know that you're all confused, so let me explain. These guys are alien robots with nanites in them that turn people into other robots. Call themselves the Xoro or something. Our job is to stop the invasion, save the world, and maybe film an awesome movie while we're at it."

"See, we needed people to help fight one of the most amazing wars in human history. That's where you come in. Chef and I have taken this opportunity to make some sweet weapons, and normally, they'd probably be illegal. So, now that the world's in danger, it's the perfect time to use them. Good luck. I'll be hiding in my secret bunker."

Within a nanosecond of Chris finishing his sentence, he darted out the doors, probably to his secret bunker. Sierra started to push buttons on her phone. "Sierra? What are you doing?" I asked.

"Opening a new blog," she said. "This way, anybody who's still around can hear about all of our adventures during the war!"

I rolled my eyes. Typical Sierra. My eyes landed on Gwen, who was holding her face in stress. I can't blame her, either. You'll definitely feel stress if you've just been asked to save the world from robot aliens who probably had laser weapons and advanced intelligence.

I shrugged, and spotted Izzy and Harold chatting about the situation. Harold tried to argue that Chris was just being Chris, but Izzy wouldn't take it. Dawn was upset because the only other intelligent beings in the universe turned out to be machines. And Ella tried to cheer everyone up with a motivational song... that prompted a punch in the gut from Eva.

While all of this was happening, I spotted B pointing at something. "Guys," I said, "B's spotted something!"

From the window came a robotic drone, no bigger than my head. Attached to the drone was a roll of paper. I unrolled it, and, of course, it was a message. I began to read.

* * *

 _Dear Members of the Human Race,_

 _Your planet has been chosen to be the new home of the Xoro. Any resistance will be crushed instantly._

 _The Xoro are a powerful clan of mechanoids who scour the galaxy, looking to expand. However, with lack of reproductive systems, we must replicate ourselves into other beings to raise our currently-low population._

 _If you try to fight us, I formally declare you absolutely stupid, and will ensure that your death is long and painful. My armies are both merciful and merciless. Being reformed to our standards is an act of mercy compared to the other things we can do to you; namely, torture._

 _In conclusion, I hope you understand that your planet is doomed. Thanks for complying._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Kyora Prime, High Commander of the Xoro Army_

 _PS: Please do not reply._

* * *

We stared at the letter for a long time. Nobody said a word at first, because this only confirmed what Chris had told us. Then, Anne Maria spoke up: "So, d'ya think them Xoro are nice enough to design my new bod' with my gorgeous hair?"

"That," Dave pointed out, "is the LEAST of our worries! We're trying to fight them, not join them?"

"Hey, better beauty than torture."

Dakota slapped the over-glorious beauty, which hurt coming from Dakota. "What ever happened to LIFE?" Dakota asked. That was a shock to hear coming from her mouth. Anne Maria rubbed her cheek, while Dakota turned to Sam. "So, any thoughts?" she asked her boyfriend. "Like, pretty battle suits, or..."

I buried my head in my hands. This was going to be a long season... if it could even be called that.

* * *

 **So, in conclusion, a bunch of your favorite Total Drama competitors are now members of a massive planetary war that could change the world as we know it. Also, if this seemed uninteresting compared to last chapter, not every chapter can be a sci-fi version of Shawn's worst nightmare.**


	3. File 3: DJ

**We're (finally) on File 3 of TD Invasion, I'm writing this in 2018, and the character for the file is DJ, thanks to a suggestion from Mattafat. However, I'd rather people not suggest the next few characters; I never really cared for DJ, as opposed to literally everyone else who's watched Total Drama, so writing this was no easy feat. Plus, I've got Geoff's (probably really dramatic) chapter in the works as File 5... You'll see why Geoff gets the drama. And File 4 is going to be a look from the (normally) unbearable Heather. Her file is probably going to be the first NORMAL female file, since Courtney's file was a heavy transformation sequence. Anyways, enjoy!**

FILE 3: DJ

Oh, man... Where do I start? Oh, yeah, Cody just finished reading that letter. Guess I should start there, then... So, a bit after that, Heather stood straight up on top of the table.

"Listen up, dweebs," she said, "I'm appointing myself leader of this war. Now, first things first-"

"Hold on," Gwen asked, "how come YOU get to be in charge?"

"Hey, yeah!" Topher realized. "Chris didn't say who was leader, but he probably would've said who WASN'T if he hadn't left so soon."

"Will you be quiet?" demanded Heather. That girl is SCARY.

"No," replied LeShawna. "We've had enough of yo' big mouth bossin' us around already!"

"Well," Heather retorted, "at least it isn't as big as your BUTT!"

Crap just got real. LeShawna jumped at Heather, and I tried to hold her back. It didn't work. LeShawna slipped out of my hands and charged Heather, which led to Heather diving under the table.

Lindsay scratched her head. "So, why do Lefona and Heather hate each other so much again?"

I thought for a second, and wasn't able to answer that question, apart from knowing that LeShawna and Heather were just one pair of mortal enemies from that show. And, unfortunately, I saw the highlights of their rivalry in person.

It was at about this time that I saw Bridgette sneaking outta the meeting hall. I figured if SHE was getting out of this, I may as well join her. Thing is, I needed a distraction. So, I did what any normal person would do in this situation:

"Hey, Harold, you wanna show off your mad skills?"

Yeah, I used Harold as a distraction. Nothing personal, dude; I just needed outta there. And he really thought it was a good idea! "I thought nobody would ask!" he said, and then, he proceeded to dance on the table, drawing just about everyone's attention.

I'd decided that, if those Xoro attack us, I'm not usin' anyone as a shield, but this was different. I needed to stay sane. I got outta there while Harold was distracting people, and then caught up to Bridgette.

"Yo, Bridge," I called. "Saw you sneak out, so I decided to follow."

"Neat," came her reply. "Actually, it's kind of nice to have someone to talk to." Suddenly, she got serious. "DJ, I have something to tell you, and you have to PROMISE not to freak out."

I scratched my head. "Okay, you can tell me, but no promises..."

Bridgette sighed. "You know how I've been wearing gloves since the meeting began?"

"Actually, I never noticed."

"Well, that's the problem."

Bridgette took off her right glove, and beneath was a mechanical hand. A rope was tied tightly around her wrist.

"WHOA!"

"I told you that you might freak out."

"But... What happened?"

"Those... Xoro, if that's what they were called, found me before Chris called us," Bridgette explained. "They zapped my hand, and it turned into this. Before things got out of hand, Shawn saw the whole thing and pulled me out of there. Then he tied the rope around my wrist to cut off the blood flow to my body, so the nanites wouldn't replicate there."

"Let me guess," I figured, "he got that outta one of his scary zombie movies."

"Probably. He said he'd amputate it, but he doesn't have the equipment." She shuddered at the word "amputate." Clearly, this was pretty stressful. "So far, he's the only other one that knows, and if I know Shawn, he's not going to tell anyone. I'd especially rather Geoff not know; he's such a carefree guy, and I don't want to worry him."

"Yeah, but what if it means life and death? Or, you know, assimilation?"

"If it comes to that," Bridgette decided, "I'll tell him. Until then..." The surfer covered her hand back up, and I was busy wondering whether I'd gotten out of that place in time to save my sanity. But then, Bridge put her arm around me.

"You're a really nice guy, DJ. I'm glad you understand."

"I do, but what's our cover-up? You never wear gloves in the summer, even in cold places!"

"Our cover-up," she said, "is that you put them on and accidentally slipped glue into them."

"Accidentally slipped gl- How does that even work?"

"Fine. How about, I spilled Chef's cooking on my hands."

I smiled. That one was much more believable. We turned around to go inside...

...when we saw two robots jumping off of a building, coming right for us.

"That's them!" Bridgette realized. "Those are the ones that attacked me!"

The Xoro on the left was a feminine model with a red eye- probably infrared- while the one on the right was masculine and had a pointed chin. They looked at each other, then at us.

"Well, Civ, looks like it's our lucky day," said the pointy-chin Xoro.

"Agreed, Zon," said the one with the red eye. "That tracking nanite was obviously an efficient way to track the humans."

"Tracking nanite?" I said in disbelief.

Zon laughed to himself. "I can confirm that these two will make excellent additions to our army. I'm bringing up their files now... Ah, yes. Devon 'DJ' Joseph is a gentle giant. And Bridgette Ross is a pacifistic surfer, but tough. Their kind natures, though, are a significant flaw that must be deleted."

"Did you know they were tracking you?" I asked Bridgette in a panic.

"No, I had no idea!" she said, sounding just as freaked out as I was. She hadn't realized it, but she'd led the Xoro right to our meeting place!

"I feel it is time for a great re-programming of this race," Civ announced. "After all, with you two out here, the others will certainly follow."

This was not good. Not good at all.

"DJ!" Bridgette yelled! "I'll hold 'em down, you warn everyone!"

So much for "pacifist"; Bridge was suddenly holding both Xoro to the ground. I knew it definitely wouldn't last long, so I raced inside.

"GUYS," I screamed as soon as I got in, "The Xoro are here! Quick, to the back door!"

Everyone realized since I'm not a good liar, and since this seemed genuine, it had to be. They didn't ask questions; even Heather listened and ran out the back.

I looked out the window just before I took off, and saw, to my horror, that Bridgette wasn't doing so hot. She'd thrown her gloves off and had tried to tear the Xoro apart with her bare hands, but it didn't work.

And that's when ZON cut the ROPE.

Before I knew what was happening, I was running. Yes, I did want to help Bridgette, but at the time it didn't seem like something to get killed over. My legs were moving, but my heart wasn't. I couldn't save her, I knew I couldn't.

And it would be hardest once I broke it to Geoff.

* * *

 **Oh, my gosh. I can't believe I actually wrote that!**

 **Okay, first off for everyone questioning the three generations of contestants knowing each other, this story takes place in an alternate universe, which means I can do anything I want, and second, in this universe, there was a "Big 50" season (only fifty because Dakota was in treatment and Ezekiel is... well, Ezekiel) that put the contestants together. So, there.**

 **Bridgette's secret was amazing to write, and Shawn's zombie knowledge let her live longer, even if only to the end of the chapter. However, it became her downfall, as the nanites in her hand sent out a tracking signal.**

 **And the star attraction, DJ, was a lot less important than I'd have liked him to be, but if he didn't start the evacuation, then Bridgette wouldn't be the only one going down in this chapter, and this fic would be a lot shorter.**

 **Anyway, now I think you know why Geoff's chapter is going to be very dramatic; let's just say, the Xoro find him next. Or, rather, _a_ Xoro finds him next. And... well, I think you know where this is going.**

 **I'll try to be more active, but until then...!**

 **(Fun fact: Devon Joseph IS DJ's real name, not making it up.)**


	4. File 4: Heather

**So... Here we are. The plot is finally unfurling. In this episode, I'll start to split the survivors into groups. Please take note that the group featured is not the only clan of survivors.**

 **Also, Heather was REALLY fun to write for. Take note of that, because I've never truly written for her alone with Gwen and two other characters. Take care.**

* * *

FILE 4: HEATHER

Do I seriously have to talk about the crazy stuff that happened today? Ugh, fine. It all started when DJ told the forty-something of us to head out. We raced down the streets, but then, out of nowhere, those Xoro cut our group in half. We wound up taking a left when the others took a right. Chances are, they're dead. And, of course, Gwen noticed the split.

"Hey, where are we going? What's going on?"

"We're leaving," I told that stupid Goth. "We need to escape!"

"But what about Cameron?" she asked. "And Trent, and Leshawna... Heck, what about Mike? Sure, HE's a little useless now, but STILL..."

"Better them than us, Gwen. Frankly, I don't care."

Gwen put her foot down. "Listen, Heather. I don't know who you think you are, but with you leading us, how are we supposed to SURVIVE? I mean-"

Gwen cut herself short. Ahead of us were only Tyler, who'd stopped to catch a breath, and Geoff, who'd tripped over. Everybody else was gone.

"And you call ME unforgiving?" I asked. "Look, the rest of our group just abandoned you, me, and those two losers to escape!"

Gwen crossed her arms. "I guess it was a small price to pay to be rid of YOU."

I turned away. "Maybe you're just thinking that we're still enemies," I pointed out. "It's the apocalypse, Goth girl. Every man or woman for themselves."

"Fine," Gwen said, a sly grin coming across her face. "Hey, Tyler, Geoff!" she shouted sarcastically. "Let's abandon Heather!"

"Wait, WHAT?" I asked, shocked. Obviously, I didn't realize the sarcasm.

"You said yourself that everyone should fend for themselves. Why shouldn't we leave you here?"

"Because," I said, panicked, "they'll KILL me. That, or add me to their legion! Please, Gwen, have MERCY!"

Gwen looked at Geoff and Tyler, who each realized what was going on. She turned back to me. "Fine," she said. "But from now on, YOU'RE playing by MY rules. And rule number one is: _there's safety in numbers._ "

The guys nodded, and Geoff even tipped his hat. Then, he asked a question nobody had expected:

"One question, dudes? Where's Bridgette?"

At first, we just stared at him. We didn't know. Tyler raised his hand. "I thought she was with DJ during the meeting."

"But she didn't come BACK with DJ during the meeting," Gwen pointed out. "So where IS she?"

"This is really bad, people," Geoff said. "If we don't find Bridgette before the Xoro-"

"What if they've already FOUND her?" I asked. "Face it, Geoff, your girlfriend is going to be a pile of nuts and bolts when this is over. Frankly, I wish it'd been Alejandro, not Bridgette."

A sad look came on Geoff's face, and a twinge of guilt chimed in me, before suddenly straightening back out. "Geoff, this may be hard to take," I told him, "but we need to go on without her. Our chances of survival are better if we DON'T attack the Xoro head-on, which may be what we need to do to save her."

A period of stern silence passed over the group. None of us had prepared to deal with this kind of thing on such short notice.

"So..." Tyler finally said, breaking the silence. "What should we do now?"

"I dunno," Gwen said, "talk about Season Two? Heather being bald was pretty funny..."

"Hey, that happened in Season One," I reminded them. "And Chef STILL hasn't apologized."

"Apologize to who," asked Tyler, "you or the people who had to put up with you?"

"Says the jock who's not good at sports."

"Hey, I might not be as athletic as I'd like," Tyler said defensively, "but at least I've got game."

"Yeah, dude, you played a long game in Season Three," Geoff said, his face lighting up. "And hey, at least you've never had to sing about someone you hated." Geoff coughed, and I could've sworn it sounded like "Blaineley."

So that's how we wound up sitting around telling stories. Gwen told us about the time she and Courtney made up- and then broke up, a few episodes later. "Chartney." That's actually kind of funny. Tyler told us that he and Lindsay are going steady for once, even though Lindsay doesn't know what that means. And Geoff told us about how he and his best friend Brody won this race-around-the-world sort of reality show. We had a pretty good time.

 _(DISCLAIMER: I, Heather Ortega, have absolutely no connection to this random assortment of dweebs. We just hung out, that's all.)_

"So, Heather," Tyler asked, "based on what you said earlier... I'm guessing you and Al broke up?"

"No duh," I answered. "Guy came up to me and asked if I could come over. I did, and his brother told me to wait in his room. But it wasn't Alejandro's room, it was Jose's. When Al showed up, he totally got the wrong idea and flipped." I let out a sigh. "It's like he trusts his brother more than me."

"Well," Gwen pointed out, "you don't really have a very 'trustworthy' reputation."

"Shut up," I said. I was actually kind of glad it was dark out, so she couldn't see me smiling. For someone I'd hated for four seasons straight, she was actually kind of smart.

 _"Well, then, I suppose story time is over?"_

Everybody looked around. The voice had come out of nowhere. It sounded two-toned, one mono, one changing pitch.

"What was that?" asked Tyler.

"The voice sounded kinda familiar," Geoff said.

"And girlish," I added.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Gwen said.

"Really?" asked Tyler. "You choose NOW to make a reference?"

"It... It wasn't intentional!" Gwen quickly stammered.

 _"Fighting amongst yourselves is ineffective. It only makes you weaker."_

Geoff smacked himself in the head. "Ugh! I KNOW I've heard that voice somewhere... Just not as robotic. Let's see... If I drown out the monotone..."

 _"_ You're _only making it easier for me to strike."_

Our newcomer stepped out of the shadows. Her body was plated thouroughly with a titanium alloy, and her arms had blades emerging. She had wires for hair, and her legs had wheels in the feet- you know those wheel shoes, then think that. But the Xoro visitor's face was nearly enough to scare me to death; a face that we'd all seen before. We were all shocked, but none as shocked as Geoff.

"B...Bridgette?"

* * *

 **Boom. Plot twist. And setup for Geoff's chapter. You'll see.**

 **As a slight teaser, I'll let you know that it involves Geoff trying to break through to Bridgette- the REAL Bridgette- and meanwhile, trying to SURVIVE.**

 **Finally, each Xoro I design seems to have a different build; Bridgette, for example, is humanoid with wheelies, but Civ has infrared vision. Zon doesn't have any abilities as of yet, but he'll show 'em. And Kyora was by far the most fun to design, complete with cannon and insectoid locomotion. The only constant I have is hair wires, but they tend to resemble their previous forms in a way.**

 **So...yeah. Review. And stuff.**


	5. File 5: Geoff

**This file is the most emotional I've gotten with this story; Geoff and Bridgette's strained relationship, Tyler's unexpected plan, and the gravity of the situation make this one a must-read!**

 **This chapter has two endings; the original, which is no longer canon, and the revised, which IS.**

* * *

FILE 5: Geoff

"Bridge?" I asked in disbelief. "Is... Is that really you?"

Bridgette crossed her arms. _"I suppose you ARE a bit more observant than before."_ Her eyes didn't show emotion, and that seemed pretty messed up. _"Shame it had to come with your foolishness."_

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tyler asked.

 _"Nothing,"_ Bridgette replied. _"Just that humans have a tendency to not realize danger. Thankfully, we do not possess that flaw."_

This was wrong. I didn't think Bridgette would say things like that.

"Snap out of it," I told her desperately. "You're being used! You're-"

 _"No. YOU snap out of it, Geoff."_ The tone in her voice was commanding. _"You should've realized that we're superior in every aspect. Your world is already ours. Your foolish idea of resistance is... impossible."_

Gwen chuckled. "At least she's still using contractions."

"I know," Heather commented. "Those guys acting all proper would get annoying.

 _"Would you let me finish?"_ Bridgette said angrily. _"I'm certain that you should comply, lest face your ultimate destruction. So, what's it going to be?"_

I could feel my fists shaking. This was NOT Bridgette. It couldn't be.

"Guys," I told them, "this isn't Bridgette. I think we can bring her back, though!"

Heather crossed her arms. "Geoff, listen! Bridgette's gone. She's not coming back! Don't get yourself killed and come on!"

Gwen took a step back. "Yeah, I agree with Heather. She's a mindless servant, programmed to transform you! Shut up!"

Gwen and Heather never agreed on anything. It was one of the rules of their rivalry. If they agreed on something, it was BIG news for someone.

"Gwen," I asked, clearly disagreeing, "wasn't it YOU who said to stick together?"

"Yeah," she let out, "but not with the enemy!"

Bridgette crossed her arms again. _"You know, perhaps I should take you all now to shut you up,"_ she said. _"You can all just surrender now... It'd be way quicker, and a whole lot less painful."_

"No way," Tyler said, panicked. "I'd just as soon break Duncan out of prison!"

Gwen and Heather both stared at Tyler. That was actually a really good idea, to them. Sure, nobody really LIKED Duncan, but he was good in a fight.

"Tyler, you're a genius," Heather said. "We hadn't even thought about that!"

"Yeah, just one problem," Gwen reminded her. "Duncan works best alone. What makes you think he'd team up with us?"

 _"You might want to stop revealing your plans,"_ Bridgette said. _"Besides, that plan would just mean another person could join our army."_

I slapped Bridgette- a bad idea, considering her face was made of cold, hard metal. I grasped my hand in pain, but nonetheless looked her in the eye.

"Bridge, listen! The Xoro are using you! Find your humanity, babe!" As I was telling her this, I was STILL totally in denial. I wasn't about to believe that Bridgette would turn to the Xoro cause 'just because'.

Bridgette simply smiled. _"Humanity is inefficient in far too many aspects,"_ she decided, _"for it to be the side I align myself with. Pain... Human emotion... Life itself... These flaws are too great for anyone to possess. The Xoro have no such weaknesses. We are stronger than any biological being. We do not need these things."_

"Listen to yourself," I said. "That solidifies the point that the Xoro are trying to destroy the world, using you as a potential sacrifice!"

 _"Better than being a part of THIS,"_ Bridgette said firmly. I scratched my head, looking for answers. How could I get Bridgette back on my side?  
Then, I had a thought that was so crazy, it just might work. I threw my straw hat off my head- desperate times call for desperate measures- and handed it to Bridgette. She thought about the hat for a bit before looking back at me.

 _"You really care for me, don't you, Geoff?"_

I nodded hopefully.

 _"I'm sorry, then,"_ Bridgette said, in an emotionless tone, _"that I don't feel the same."_

Oh, I'm sorry, did you guys see my face there? It was PRICELESS! But my heart? Didn't feel that way at all. Within seconds, Bridgette had destroyed my gift, and I just stood there in shock. Was Bridge too far gone? Had she destroyed the only thing that was even CLOSE to being matched with my affection to her? I mean, I'd never KISSED the thing, but she KNEW that hat had been special! Was Bridgette even there anymore?

I turned around, and the gang had already left, presumably leaving me to deal with Bridgette while they got Duncan. I looked back at Bridgette and grabbed the nearest weapon; a rock. Simple, but effective.

"Don't make me do this, babe," I told her. "You're gonna regret it."

 _"Perhaps I would,"_ Bridgette said, cool and calculated, _"if you actually mattered to me."_

I swung the stone, trying to make a dent in her titanium plating. Oh, man, was I stupid! I barely made a scratch. I stepped back, and Bridge made a swipe. That made a pretty small cut in my hand, but I wasn't sweating it. Then, the NANITES showed up, trying to infiltrate the wound. I started panicking, and looking for a place to get through.

 **(Original Ending)**

I saw a chance- a slight opening in her neck, presumably for ventilation. I grabbed a pole off of the ground, and thrust it into her neck. I didn't even know what I was doing- defensive instinct? I can't tell- but before I knew it, Bridgette was falling to the ground, her systems slowing down.

What happened next was the saddest moment in my life. I STILL don't want to talk about it, but it's pretty big, so... yeah. I caught Bridge as she fell, and looked into her eyes. Her left eye was flickering, and her body was twitching, waiting to power down. Her eyes met mine, and a moment of silence passed.

"Bridge," I told her silently. "I'm here for you."

Bridgette wheezed weakly. Then she let out a quick confession, the most emotional I'd heard her since we met:

 _"I know."_

Man. Was that a Star Wars moment or what? Bridgette barely grabbed a piece of string, and tied it around my wrist. A nanobyte flew into the cut on my hand, and I saw what she was doing; disobeying protocol or something.

 _"Geoff..."_ Bridgette was slowing down. _"Don't... forget... us..."_

She put her hand on my shoulder, and then... it dropped. Her eyes went out altogether. She stopped twitching. It was tragic.

I thought about what my next move should be. Sure, I could mourn her, but that'd totally leave me in the open. Meanwhile, I could find a mechanic, but my only options were separated from me. I shrugged. There was only one other option; leave.

I bent over, and hoisted Bridgette's mechanical body over my shoulder, taking care to avoid her sharp arm blades. It would be a long walk to meet up with the gang, but I was sure they'd understand once I told them. That, or showed them my hand. This would be a long, long day...

 **(REVISED ENDING)**

Bridgette jumped and held me down. I couldn't get up. I could feel my hand being eaten away by the bots as she stared into my eyes, with cold, dead determination.I struggled to grab something- ANYTHING- to stop this madness.

A flood of memories seared through my head; from the macaroni bowl all the way to the Aftermath show. Every good- and bad- moment Bridge and I had was flashing before my eyes. I reached for something, and grabbed it.

A sledgehammer.

I swung at Bridgette. Having re-read my memories, I now saw the truth. Bridgette was gone. She wouldn't do this. What was left of her was the part that was trying to kill me. But she was also ridiculously tough. When the hammer hit, it didn't even make a dent; it just glanced off of her. And consequently, fell on my gut.

As I howled in pain, Bridgette suddenly grasped one of her audio sensors, as if receiving orders. I could hear her talking back: _"Yeah? Okay. Affirmative. Prisoner 7883 cannot escape? Thank you, Supreme Commander."_

Bridgette stood up. _"We'll finish this later,"_ she said, _"if there's anything left of you."_

And with that, she walked away, in the same direction that the rest of my crew had gone mere moments ago. I scratched my head, trying to figure out what had just happened, when I felt nothing but cold steel.

I screamed. My hand was totally messed up, bruh! It looked like something you see in a sci-fi movie. I would've been toast... if DJ didn't hear my scream and come to the rescue.

When the dude showed up, I tried to tell him what'd happened. He shook his head, and sighed. "I knew it'd come to this." Then, he pulled a piece of rope out of his pocket and started tying it around part of my arm.

"It's gonna cut off the blood flow," he told me. "Shawn taught me that... in a sense."

"Well, Shawn's a smart dude," I said, trying to stay focused. My mind, though, was totally elsewhere. If the REAL Bridgette was really gone, why would the Xoro form spare me? Unless the directive to capture Prisoner 7883 was THAT important...

"You're lucky I decided to come," DJ told me. "Under most circumstances, I'd have just run away."

I stared at DJ blankly. The gentle giant gave me an almost crushing hug.

"I've got'cha," he told me. "I know this is gonna be tough..."

"Don't mention it," I told him. We turned around, and walked towards the prison, me knowing full well that Gwen, Tyler, and Heather were in more danger than they could imagine, and DJ just going with it. They just needed help.

* * *

 **Aah! Feels!**

 **So, yeah, in the original ending, Bridgette just saved Geoff's life. How? Well, in her dying moments, I theorize that she would recognize Geoff, and pay him back for believing she could be saved by saving him the same way Shawn saved her. Wait, am I saving the big guns for later?**

 **But, in THIS ending, it's DJ, because I have more planned for Bridge, and besides, I can't kill off an "ultimate fighting machine" this early.**

 **As for Duncan, yeah... Being Prisoner 7883, he's gonna be necessary, along with Gwen, when the fight against Kyora Prime comes up. Kyora is, in time, going to be the driving intellect of the Xoro race, and her main conflicts are going to bite her in the butt when the time comes. But for now... yeah. Review, follow, etc. I don't care.**


	6. EPISODE ONE: BREAKOUT

**Two pieces of news. First off, I have changed my account name to "GlitchWarrior." I generally like this name, and as such I will more than likely maintain it for some time.**

 **More importantly, I have settled on a rather... unorthodox format for this story. The "files" you've read up unto this point were fairly minor, telling tiny bits and pieces of a larger story. This is the first "Episode," a major story told from no point of view that impacts the series as a whole.**

 **Duncan's file is next, for obvious reasons.**

* * *

BREAKOUT

EPISODE I OF TOTAL DRAMA INVASION

GLITCHWARRIOR

Three figures lined up against the prison walls- Gwen Pierce, Tyler Walden, and Heather Ortega, acquaintances of these prisoners. Considering a friend of them was holding down the fort against a Xoro general, they had little time.

"Any hope that Geoff survives?" asked Tyler.

"He took on Bridgette head-on, trying to convince her to go back to her past," replied Gwen. "The chances are slim."

Then, Geoffrey Lancaster's gung-ho voice rung in the air- "But it's still there!"

Geoff rounded the corner, followed closely by a friend of his, Devon Joseph.

"Geoff!" said Heather. "And... DJ?"

"Long story," DJ said. "Point is, whatever you do, don't untie the rope on Geoff's wrist."

"Huh?" asked Tyler. "What're you talking about?"

Geoff held up his wrist, and below the cord, the trio saw a silvery, mechanized lining.

"What happened?" asked Gwen.

"Bridge got me good," Geoff said. "But she left to hunt down some 'Prisoner 7883,' whoever that is..."

"Crap," said Heather, "that's Duncan's call-number."

The other four all turned towards her.

"What?" she said. "So we've been seeing each other for a while. Not much else to say, alright? Point is, we have to act fast."

"Well, guys," DJ said, "you're in luck. Remember back when this whole mess started, and Chris showed us this weapons cache? Yeah, I got us a bomb for this."

"You don't seem the weapon-y type," Geoff said.

"Hey," DJ responded, "I had that rope ready. What else could I have grabbed?"

"Guns," Gwen responded.

"Focus, guys," Tyler said. "Duncan should be near that wall, if we know him-"

"No," Heather said. "His favorite spot is this wall. That one is the one to blow."

"Gee, Heather," Gwen joked, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're crushing on him."

Heather blushed angrily. "I am NOT."

"Ooh, denial," Geoff said. "Telltale sign of love!"

DJ smirked. "Wouldn't have thought it from you."

Heather glared daggers at them. "Let's just get this over with," she said, planting the bomb to a wall. "Alright, everyone- GET BACK!"

They raced back, and Geoff pushed the detonator. The wall shattered, and suddenly inmates began pouring out of the hole.

"That was easy," Tyler said.

"Too easy," added Gwen. "Come on, guys."

The five teens raced through the opening and found some of the prisoners trying to battle the Xoro. Scarlett was amongst these, and Duncan was near, as well.

"Duncan," called Heather. "Over here!"

Duncan looked up. "Oh, Heather! Didn't think you'd come to visit!"

Scarlett glared at the group. "Do I get any recognition at all?"

"Sorry," Gwen apologized.

"Perfect timing, though," Duncan said. "We're trashing these people-turn-into-robot robots!" He thought about those words, and then asked, "Is that too much?"

But the Xoro were still coming. Not to mention, the prisoners who'd stopped to fight Xoro were being assimilated. In no time at all, they'd surrounded the group. Three of their general grunts, including the female that had helped take Geoff's girlfriend, were taking aim at the seven, until Bridgete's two-toned voice cut over.

 _"Zyko, Civ, Noka. Stand down."_

The grunts lowered their weapons, as the mechanized form of Bridgette Ross strode to the cast.

 _"What a surprise,"_ she said. _"I thought it'd be easier to take down the top priority prisoners. But it looks like I'll be taking you five with them."_

"Bridgette," DJ said. "I know I shoulda helped you when you were getting the beat-down, but at least we're both still alive. So why don't you just let us go, and we can be friends again?"

Bridgette shook her head. _"You still believe that I hold the group of you dear,"_ she said. _"How tragic."_

"Hang on a sec," Duncan said. "How long has Bridgette been a robot?"

Geoff's lip quivered. "Bridge, just a few minutes ago, I thought I had you back!"

 _"Your thoughts only decieve you, Geoff,"_ she remarked. _"I was no closer to salvation than when DJ abandoned me in the streets."_

DJ winced as Geoff shot him a death glare. "You... did... WHAT?"

 _"Indeed,"_ Bridgette explained. _"He and I were fighting off my new suboordinates, and he left me to save all of you. Pathetic, I guess."_

"That ain't what happened!" DJ exclaimed. "You TOLD me to save them! You said you'd be fine!"

 _"Perhaps,"_ Bridgette said. _"But you could clearly see that I was in danger."_

"Dude, I thought we were buds here!" Geoff yelled angrily.

Duncan looked at Bridgette. "Whaddya want with me, anyway?"

 _"Our commander wants to talk to you personally, Duncan,"_ Bridgette said. _"It's not hard to see why."_

"It kind of is," Duncan said. "I've never even met the dude!"

 _"The commander is a girl, Duncan."_

The delinquent promptly corrected himself. "I mean, I've never met her."

"What about the rest of us?" asked Scarlett.

 _"Each of you will be publically assimilated,"_ stated Bridgette, _"as powerfully as possible, to shred any hope of rebellion with this planet's inhabitants."_

"No," Gwen said angrily. "I don't want them to take it! Take me alone, torture me, do ANYTHING you want to me, just leave them out of it!"

"Gwen," Heather said, "why would you say that? Especially since Scarlett and I are among the group..."

Gwen ignored Heather's comment. "I only want them to be safe. Don't take them. Give them a head start, at the very least, just don't hurt them!"

Bridgette thought for a moment, then locked eyes with Gwen. _"A sacrificial lamb, hmm?"_ asked the Xoro. _"Well, then, it's a shame your sacrifice is meaningless."_

Suddenly, Bridgette jabbed her arm-blade into Gwen's chest. The rest of the teens were given the shock of their lives seeing this. Gwen fell down, injured, clutching her chest as Bridgette picked up the limp Goth.

"I... will not... stop..." Gwen sputtered, "...until my... friends... are safe."

 _"There's not going to be a choice,"_ Bridgette said. She reached her hand into the wound, allowing the nanites within to quickly spread. Even as the miniscule transformers worked their magic, Gwen looked unphased.

"You aren't going to rule the world," Gwen said. "Your commander isn't going to rule the world. Know why?"

Bridgette seemed intrigued, so she allowed the loner to continue as she mechanized. Gwen's lower body began to plate itself with metal, slowly replacing her tissue with circuitry. A second, mechanical pair of arms began to deploy from her shoulders, and her torso transitioned into a cast-iron shell- but Gwen didn't care. She looked Bridgette in the eye, beginning her speech.

"You guys are totally evil- I get that. But you're also a former friend. Friendship comes before anything." Gwen looked back at her group. "It's like I told Geoff, Heather, and Tyler when we first teamed up- there's safety in numbers."

"I don't know," Scarlett stated. "A regular friendship-based trope has never been scientifically proven to succeed."

Gwen ignored Scarlett as the tone in her voice began to mechanize. "You may think you're stronger than us," she spat, _"_ and smarter, too. And you know what? You're abso _lutely right... alone, that is. My friends will fight you. They'll fight US, because it'll be the only way to get us back. This was our- no, now THEIR world first, Bridgette. They have every right to defend it..."_

And with those last words, Gwen passed out, her humanity siphoned away from the Xoro curse.

 _"Such a shame,"_ Bridgette said, throwing her newly-created warrior to the ground. _"She fell a martyr for a cause that was already doomed."_

The remaining six teens readied themselves to fight, but suddenly, Bridgette yanked Duncan out of the group. The others had apparently forgotten that the Commander wanted him.

 _"In thirty minutes' time,"_ announced Bridgette, _"you will each be publically assimilated. The broadcasting association we've taken has already hacked several other channels, to display your public transformation to the world."_

"Just because you show people something horrible," said DJ angrily, "doesn't mean they'll submit. People will still fight back. You had friends, and so did Gwen. We'll fight back to the last man if we have to."

 _"I'd like to see that,"_ Bridgette challenged him. _"But your last thirty minutes should be spent as well as they can. I'll leave you to them."_

As the guards began to corner the quintet of teens, Bridgette shoved Duncan toward a guard. _"Take him to the Commander,"_ she said. _"I'll ensure our new ally is properly functional."_

The guard nodded, and began to lead Duncan away. Before Duncan was removed, he turned back towards Bridgette. "Why do you want Gwen fully prepared ASAP, anyway?"

Bridgette smiled as the guard led Duncan away. _"Because,"_ she explained, _"she's the executioner."_

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!**


	7. File 6: Duncan

**Here's file six, everyone! Sorry if I messed up on the style, but I've never written in-depth for Duncan before. As for the story itself, it's pretty impactful.**

* * *

TD INVASION FILE VI

DUNCAN'S STORY

Let's get one thing straight, pal. I never liked the Xoro in the first place. I wish they'd never shown up. Granted, had they not shown up, I never would have gotten out of jail, but still. Better to be imprisoned for a few months than taken up in an intergalactic war against super-smart mechanical zombies or something!

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Those punks were leading me through their main base of operations. The guards leading me, Beko and Hur, were completely emotionless, only showing any form of anger when I heavily insulted them, like "You bucketheads deserve to go to the junkyard!" and "Hey, look, trash! Oh, wait, that's you." And even then, the most they reacted with was a push forward.

 _"Commander Kyora recently ordered a bit of reconstruction on her unit,"_ Hur said, _"so she has been slightly altered since our last visit to her."_

 _"However,"_ Beko added, _"we don't quite understand why she'd alter her locomotion structure anyway. Trading balanced, all-terrain, quintaped movement for bipedal humanoid movement-"_

 _"She was used to that, you know,"_ Hur said. _"Besides, the prisoner doesn't need to fear her. Not unless he knew her..."_

I shuddered for a moment. Based on what Hur had just said, and what Bridgette had told me a while before, the Supreme Commander of the Xoro Legion was a figure from my past. But hey, I never listen to what others say. I shook it off, and figured that it was probably just a gut feeling, and I'd been right not to trust those before.

Boy, was I wrong.

The pair of Xoro pushed me through a doorway, and the door behind me shut. Here I was, about to come face to face with the Xoro leader. Geoff, DJ, Scarlett, Tyler, and Heather were all still in the prison courtyard, awaiting their death sentence, but me? I was probably ten times deeper in than they were.

I stepped forward. I was in a long room, with a throne turned away from me, close to the end of it. There was a mechanical hand resting on the arm of the chair, but most of the room was pretty dang empty. What surprised me was the room's antiquated feel. For technological terrors, they had taste in architecture.

 _"Duncan Theodore Nelson,"_ a metallic voice spoke. It was deep, almost as if it had been adjusted for the encounter. It felt unnatural, even for a killer cyborg _. "We finally meet again."_

"Listen, lady," I yelled, "I don't even know you. And besides, you've got no right to take over the world, so why don't you just let us go, and take your stupid robots elsewhere?"

 _"You misjudge the situation,"_ spoke Kyora. _"Our kind is here merely to expand our society, so what if that means a hostile takeover?"_

I growled. "If you wanted to expand, couldn't you have just taken part of the planet? You know, somewhere insignificant? Like, I dunno, some third world country?"

 _"That sort of cruelty towards your own kind..."_ The commander thought. _"I suppose, in that sense, we're also saving your planet. Humanity would have self-destructed within the next millennium."_

"You didn't answer my question! Besides, why did you want me specifically?"

 _"Oh, Duncan. Sweet, sweet Duncan."_ The commander stood up. _"You really haven't figured it out by now, have you? But, once an idiot, always an idiot, I suppose..."_

"ANSWER ME!" I shouted, angrily. The commander was making no sense, whilst insulting me. That's gotta be a new low. Only one other person had ever done that, and it had been-

No.

It couldn't be.

But, as the Commander turned around and showed her face, I knew it must be true.

Kyora Prime, the Supreme Commander of the Xoro Legion... was Courtney Barlow.

As she readjusted her voice, back to her normal, half-cranky half-serious tone, I began putting the pieces together. Why she intentionally targetted her old rivals, why she wanted to see me personally, why she wanted to make sure that Gwen was the one to take down the others...

"What... when... how-"

 _"If you'd learn to SHUT UP for just a FEW MINUTES, Duncan, I'd tell you,"_ she replied. Now THERE'S the Courtney we all know and don't love!

 _"The Xoro's goal is to assimilate your race and use it to save our society,"_ she explained. _"Our numbers were dwindling, units becoming outdated and non-operational... junkyards were beginning to fill. We had to do something, and that was to implant the code for our new, self-sustaining units into another kind, to repair our broken numbers."_

"Okay," I said. I didn't know where she was going with this, so I remained silent.

 _"When I was first converted to what I am now,"_ continued the ex-CIT, _"I was given my mission. They knew I could save them. And they also knew how much I loathed others. Combining those factors, they gave me enhanced tactical prowess, weaponry, and the power to control those under my fist."_

"Let me guess," I said. _"_ That includes Gwen and Bridgette?"

 _"Right,"_ answered Courtney. _"My creators also wanted to strip me of all emotion. However, my vengeance against humanity was what they needed. And, of course, that also means that I personally wanted to watch a certain fifty teens and their hosts pay the ultimate price."_

I crossed my arms. Then I let out a hollow laugh. "Still making others do your dirty work, though... Same as always, princess!" But deep down, I was trembling, as if I'd set off this domino effect when I kissed Gwen in London. Actually, that might have been the catalyst for Courtney doing... all of this.

"You just told your story," I said. "Now I'm gonna tell you mine. See, I don't really care if people die or not. I don't care if I go to jail or not anymore. But the whole world? That's another story. I didn't expect that the actions of one person could doom the human race, but I know one thing, Court."

"If you hadn't been the one to start the hostilities, then it would have been someone else. And since you started here, in whatever part of Canada we live in..." I shook my head at that part- I wasn't certain where everyone lived. "...we know your weaknesses. You have an army, but we have something you don't."

 _"If you say "friendship," I'm going to barf."_

I paused, wondering how a robot would barf. Then, I shook my head. "Well, you're half right. Power in numbers, is more like it. I'm not saying that 'F' word, princess, it's nowhere near the truth."

I turned away. "You may have been wronged by so many people," I said. "But either you couldn't accept the faults of yourself, like with me, or you couldn't accept the faults of others... again, like with me. Nobody's perfect, not even you, Courtney. That's why I ended up falling for Gwen in Season 3. But that doesn't mean I'm perfect, no siree. I guess what I'm trying to say is, we're not so different, you and I."

A bout of rage showed on Kyora's face. _"Don't... you DARE... compare me... to YOU!"_ She punched me in the face, knocking me to the floor as cold steel struck warm flesh.

"Geez, can't you take a speech?" I asked. "This is your problem! You won't listen to others!"

 _"MY problem?"_ she asked angrily. _"MY problem is that idiots like YOU keep telling me what to do! You fools try to give me lectures, try to change WHO I AM- and that's all you've ever done!"_

I smiled. "Weird. I thought it was that way for all of us to you."

Courtney's expression changed from rage to surprise to disbelief. The look on her face was just PRICELESS. Oh, I wish I had a camera, she was MAD!

But if there's one thing I knew about Courtney, and let me make this clear to you, it was IMPORTANT: She never admitted that she was wrong. She was too prideful to say it. So, instead of breaking down into tears for her shortcomings, she picked me up and threw me across the room with an inhuman level of strength.

 _"I... am NOTHING like you, Duncan!"_ she shouted angrily. _"NOTHING! Whatever you say, it's a lie!"_

I began to smile inside. Watching Courtney break down is one of the best sights anyone in the whole world can ever see. Seeing someone as high as her knocked off her rocker... PRICELESS. I know I already said that, but still, I have to make it clear: PRICELESS.

She eventually growled and turned to the far wall. A screen deployed on it, showing the five prisoners being led out of their holding by Bridgette and Gwen, neither of them acting anything like themselves. Obviously, just because they used to be our friends- even remotely, in Gwen's case- doesn't mean that they were any less vulnerable to losing their minds. And Bridgette, at least, retained her human memories- Gwen might have, too.

But that wouldn't help them now. They were victims of the Xoro, through and through. And something told me that if I didn't shut my trap soon, I'd be one, too.

Courtney smiled, looking at the screen. _"At least someone isn't an utter disappointment,"_ she said _. "I'm going to love watching Gwen be the one to add those poor, poor people to my army."_

I tried to keep quiet. I really did. But thinking about it, I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.

"This must be your dream job," I told her. "Turning people into mindless slaves who always do your bidding."

Her smile turned to an angry frown. She marched over to me and grabbed me by the neck. Knowing her, she'd just make me pass out- she'd want me awake for the horrors that would befall me.

"Worth... it..." I was able to croak out, before I finally fell unconscious.

* * *

 **So, to recap:**

 **Courtney switches off the insectoid locomotion from Episode 1. (Reason: I realize that was a bit of a dumb idea.)**

 **Duncan faces Courtney head on, discovering her true identity.**

 **Courtney/Kyora and Duncan have a "regular chat." (For most people, this chat is something ridiculous. For Duncan and Courtney, it's Tuesday.)**

 **Duncan pulls some quips before Kyora knocks him out.**


	8. File 7: Gwen

**So, it's been a while. But we're here now to learn more about Xoro psychology... What goes on inside the heads of these monstrous machines? We'll give you the answer... today!**

* * *

FILE 7: GWEN

I shoved DJ further down the hall. To be honest, my new job wasn't exactly my dream role in society. But hey, it's not like I had a choice. I mean, Courtney was a cruel- and seemingly all-powerful- dictator at the time, and I played right into her trap.

I looked up, and Bridgette shot me a glare that basically said, _"Supress any thoughts you might have, Gwen. We're better than that."_

I nodded in agreement. My job was to be the executioner for these humans; actually, 'executioner' was a strong word. I would have used 'converter' or 'transformer.' I wasn't going to be killing them per se, although I would be ending their lives like this.

As I led the prisoners down the halls, I was stopped for a moment by a guard.

 _"Unit 4926,"_ he told me, _"a moment. Lady Kyora has asked that you prepare yourself for the conscription, so it would be effective if someone else took your group."_

 _"Let me ask you this,"_ I replied. _"Lady Kyora's methods are efficient, but... do they reflect her true nature?"_

The guard shook his head. _"4926, you know we are not to question authority. Our society needs workers who can keep it functioning 24/7."_

 _"Understood,"_ I answered, realizing that this line of thought was pointless. My processor began to continuously ask why I had questioned Courtney's methods, and I also realized that, for Xoro rule to be established, I was to follow every order.

I was not to care for others.

Heather stared at me. "Look, gothie," she said, "I don't care what your leader says. I don't care what your society says. All I care about now is what you did for us back at the prison yard."

This was a first: Heather being grateful for something I did.

"You told us- _twice-_ that there was safety in numbers, and that as a former friend, you wouldn't try to hurt Bridgette if you weren't turned into... that. My point is, while I disagree with most of your points, that last one stuck out."

 _"I did say that the Xoro were stronger than humans, though,"_ I replied.

"Alone," she interjected. "You said you were stronger ALONE. We have something you don't, and that's relationships. It's friends, it's people who care about us!"

I grinned for a moment. _"Then who cares for you, Heather? Who would seriously come back for YOU?"_ I know I should have been emotionless; it was just too good a moment for me to pass up.

"Oh, so your programming allows INSULTS now, does it?" she asked angrily. "Well, tinhead, I've got news for you. You were right about us needing to band together, and right now, I'm going to swear that we'll do all in our power to defeat you and this Kyora person."

 _"Don't be so brash, Heather,"_ I said, grinning. _"Once you're one of us, you'll be way more useful than you ever were before."_

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, confused.

 _"Think about it,"_ I said. _"You made it to the top three in TDI, and won World Tour... but then, here you are, working with some of your hated enemies. You've grown soft, Heather, and anyone with half a brain can see that."_

Heather said nothing to this. She merely turned back to focus on the path. Bridgette, meanwhile, grinned, knowing that the more I lowered their morale, the less they would resist.

Meanwhile, though, I continued to ask why... why had I questioned Kyora's leadership? And why had I bothered to pay attention to Heather, anyway? I shouldn't have been questioning these things, but I was. It was... strange.

 _"Gwen, you really do need to focus,"_ Bridgette said. _"It's not like these prisoners are going to convert themselves."_

I looked at the prisoners, seeing each of thier faces; Scarlett was resigned, knowing she was beat, but for the most part, they seemed pretty optimistic- DJ in particular, which was weird, considering he's a bit of a big softie. Geoff looking up was also weird, seeing as his girlfriend was one of the ones leading him to his doom. Tyler was mostly just waiting for something BIG, and Heather- well, she already voiced HER opinions, so you shouldn't need to know that.

 _"Keep moving,"_ I told all of them. _"This is a big deal, you know."_

"Yeah, yeah," Heather grumbled. "I just wish you could've acted on your word..."

 _"I didn't realize you knew what regret is,"_ I said. _"And besides, you never answered my question."_

"About who would come back for me?" she replied. "Yeah, I know. The level of 'mean' I've been at over the past few years is unforgivable. But I do think I have one solid connection..."

 _"Oh, really?"_ I asked. _"Well, then, let's hope that 'connection' does come. We need to silence more rebels than you five, you know."_

Heather shook her head, sighing. "I'm sorry, Gwen. Sorry for all of it."

 _"I don't care,"_ I responded. _"You should know that's not going to faze me."_

"Yeah, I know," she said solemnly. "I just wish we could've ended on a better note."

I decided to stop talking to Heather at that point. Emotions? That was one of humanity's greatest flaws; hope, joy, rage, they were all blinding to the truth. We could even take advantage of their sorrow, causing them to concede to our methods. But Heather? She was acting like I would be affected by her viewpoint.

 _"Gwen,"_ called Bridgette from the front of our man-train, _"we made it."_

I looked up. A large platform, raised about five feet high and with a fancy balcony, surrounded by Xoro and slowly changing humans, stood in front of us.

Leave it to Courtney to make it a scene when they were going to become her minions!

I climbed the steps to the platform, ensuring that the prisoners would follow. Sure enough, all five gathered in front of me after reaching the top of the stairs. The broadcast was two minutes away now. I held my arm in front of me, and a nanite blaster deployed from inside of it.

"Gwen," Heather finished, looking me in the eye. "We all have destinies, and we were destined to fight for all eternity, weren't we?"

I thought about your statement. _"I suppose you're right. Although it looks like all of our fights led up to this... the day I finally prove that you're worthless in that state."_

"May the best girl win," she replied, looking away.

The cameraman looked at us. " _One minute, people! Places!"_

Bridgette and I made sure the prisoners were in the right places, and looked towards the camera. This would be a display, one that showed mankind that we had power over them.

But our little party was about to be crashed.

* * *

 **I really don't know what to say for this chapter. I literally just created it, and I've been thinking about the concept of files for Xoro for a while. Maybe Bridgette will get one near the climax? I don't know.**

 **I mainly wanted to expand on Heather's character development, but all things considered... Since her file was already done, I decided to do this. Kinda weird idea, but it works!**


	9. File 8: Bridgette

**It only took forever to come out, and it's here now. It's Invasion File 8! Packed with enough action that it could have been an Episode, but it's a File because that's what I designed it as. Also, it's the second Xoro Hybrid file [third, if you count Courtney's].**

File 8: Bridgette

At this point, all might have seem quite lost. The humans had fallen captive, and me and Gwen were preparing for the ultimate conversion.

Surely, there was no way out of this for them.

However, one would find that the truth was a lot different than what we'd expected at the time.

So there I was, standing there with Gwen, waiting for the ceremony to begin. And I felt pumped. I'd never felt such a rush of excitement in my life. I'd accomplished so much in the last twelve hours, and Courtney was further on the path to not just planetary, but WORLD domination.

But unlike Gwen, who would've hated the situation with a passion, I held firm. Unlike her, I was fully devoted to the cause of my new species.

I was one of the Xoro commanders now. Not a native model like Zon or Noka, yet outstrapping their capabilities in every way. And knowing the weaknesses of all of my foes definitely gave me an edge.

We'd won... or so we thought.

On the walk up, I'd mostly remained silent. I will admit that I loved Gwen's verbal assassination attempt on Heather, even if it didn't work.

I suppose the "emotionless killing machine" jig is up by now. If we really WERE emotionless, we'd just be part of a crazy hive mind at best, and absolutely defunct as a society at worst. Yes, I did have a conscience, but it was heavily supressed.

I guess it's just a Hybrid thing. I talked to a native Xoro named Guna once, and she said she'd never sensed anything of the sort. So... Yeah. One point for humanity, I guess, maybe. I still think we're superior in almost every way.

Anyway, enough about us. Where were we? Oh, yeah. The great conversion ceremony.

DJ and Geoff were looking a bit worse for wear. Heather was flat-out annoyed that Gwen was no longer, well, Gwen. Scarlett had not only lost her contacts in the battle at the Muskoka Correctional Facility, but her glasses were cracked from said battle. And Tyler had injured himself about six times on a trip through a _straight_ corridor. In other words, he was only faring slightly worse than usual.

Courtney herself arrived soon enough. I honestly liked her old look better than Spider-leg Kyora [contrary to what my colleagues would say, so seeing her in her normal state gave me a slight sigh of relief. She was masked, so none of the five prisoners could see her face, and she'd lowered her audio frequency like with her initial chat with Duncan.

 _"Citizens of the world,"_ she began broadcasting, _"we interrupt your normal program to bring you an important announcement. As of today-"_ and at this, she smiled, _"-your homeworld is under new management."_

Scarlett grimaced as Gwen and I looked her in the eye. "You foolish automations have absolutely no idea what you are about to endure. You should surrender while the possibility remains."

 _"You're just jealous that you never conquered the planet first,"_ muttered Gwen, in a voice low enough that only me and Scarlett could hear. The evil genius crossed her arms as we turned our eyes to Tyler.

"Look, guys, you're dead. Just give up!"

We ignored his plea, and moved on to Geoff and DJ, neither of whom were focused on us. My boyfriend was too busy arguing with DJ, who thouroughly denied leaving me for dead, to recognize that we'd skimmed over him.

Finally, the Supreme Commander announced that we should bring Heather forward. We pushed her up front.

 _"This is Heather Naomi Ortega,"_ spoke Kyora. _"A normal, ordinary person just like any of you. The only thing that seperates her from the rabble is reality TV, and even that casts a negative light in her direction."_

 _"But now,"_ she continued, _"her life is about to become an example of what will happen if you mess with the Xoro."_

Gwen readied her blade in her upper-left arm. She smiled [reluctantly] as she took aim at the Asian drama queen. _"Any last words before your fate meets you?"_ I asked, anticipating the conversion.

"Just four," replied Heather, smiling. "It's a Japanese saying that's become a little memetic in it's own right, actually." She looked off into the distance as she spoke her supposed "last words."

 **"Omae wa mou shinderiu."**

We looked the way she was looking, and suddenly all of us were taken aback with shock, even Courtney. We saw a feisty ginger, a formerly nasty cheerleader and an absolute dork riding down the hill on a boulder of a man. In other words, Izzy, Amy and Harold were riding Owen down the hill.

It was a moment that could only be captured with the word, _"Nani?"_

Which was exactly what everyone who'd ever SEEN that meme said the moment they saw this ridiculous sight.

You might notice I said " _formerly_ nasty" when I brought up Amy. I'll let her explain the rest in her own file. She should be going next, actually.

But that didn't matter at the moment. Mostly because in exactly one second following the aforementioned Nani, Owen crashed through the platform, knocking the prisoners loose as the Xoro [including me] flew back in absolute stunned silence.

We all landed in a big heap of metal. Thankfully, our plating was hard to damage. Otherwise, the war might've ended WAY too early. So we pulled ourselves apart and were about to let the battle begin.

That is, until a helicopter flew overhead, signaling the supposed success of the rescue mission. And to add insult to injury, the chopper had an attatched ion cannon.

One look at this glorious terror made every one of us both astonished that humans had fabricated this technology... and humored that they thought our power sources could be stopped by ion energy.

The five prisoners began making an escape along with their rescuers, who turned out to be Shawn and Jasmine. I barely would've had time to react had the ion cannon done anything to us. But it didn't and I began climbing the ladder after them.

Gwen was totally taken aback by the blast, but hadn't yet noticed that she'd been unaffected. She'd expected to power down in an instant.

I pulled myself into the copter, where Izzy promptly attempted to throw me out of the hold. I can see why. I was literally trying to kill her mere seconds ago, which was kinda still my goal at the moment.

But victory was in my grasp, as I stood up and began throwing the humans out instead- first Owen, which made the chopper much lighter, and then Shawn and Scarlett. Thankfully for them, they would never die when they hit the ground. Unfortunately for them, it was because our agents caught them first.

"Look, Bridgette," said Jasmine, terrified after Shawn's fall, "you win, okay? You win! Just stop fighting us!"

 _"That's the thing,"_ I told her, a gleam in my eye. _"We never stop until all have fallen."_

And with that, I ran her through with my blade, the Xoro nanites quickly replacing her weak human tissue as she sat there, terrified.

I turned my eyes back toward Izzy, who was going at me with a sledgehammer. I rolled aside as she crashed into Jasmine, whose nanites began working faster to accomodate for the new wound.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my side as Heather plunged a rod through one of my cooling vents. She removed it, and smiled, seeing the damage that she'd done to my internal systems.

"Take that, Barbie," she exclaimed, her typical "I outsmarted you and you know it" smirk on her face.

But my own nanites quickly built a new shell around my own wound, just as were the ones inside of the Aussie survivalist. I swiped at Heather, who had no time to react as I nearly sliced her midsection in half.

In all of the commotion, I'd forgotten about Izzy, who jumped on my head and rode me out of the helicopter, her still attatched to my head. But the deed was done. Heather, too, was on a one-track path to Xoroville.

Or so we thought.


End file.
